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Three years after Atiq-Ashraf killings, police hunt for three absconding women kin hits dead end
Despite over 500 raids across nine states and rewards, Shaista Parveen, Ayesha Noori, and Zainab Fatima remain absconding in the Umesh Pal murder conspiracy case.
Three years after gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf were gunned down in police custody in Prayagraj on April 15, 2023, UP Police are still chasing one of the biggest loose ends of the case — the continued disappearance of three women from the slain mafia family, all named in the conspiracy behind the Umesh Pal murder.
Atiq’s wife Shaista Parveen, his sister Ayesha Noori and Ashraf’s wife Zainab Fatima have remained off the police radar since the February 2023 murder of lawyer Umesh Pal and his two police gunners, becoming some of the most wanted accused in one of the state’s most high-profile criminal probes.
Despite more than 500 raids across nine states, sustained surveillance by special teams and support from the ATS and STF, the three women continue to evade arrest — nearly three years after Atiq and Ashraf themselves were shot dead on April 15, 2023, in a killing that stunned the country and marked a dramatic turn in the crackdown on the Prayagraj mafia network.
Police have announced a ₹50,000 reward on Shaista, while ₹25,000 each has been declared for information leading to the arrest of Noori and Zainab.
Investigators said the search began in the immediate aftermath of the February 24, 2023 killing of Umesh Pal in Prayagraj’s Dhoomanganj area, where assailants opened indiscriminate fire and hurled crude bombs in broad daylight. CCTV footage released later showed Atiq’s son Asad Ahmed and gangster Guddu Muslim allegedly taking part in the attack. As the probe widened, police named the three women as accused in the alleged conspiracy, claiming they helped facilitate the plot and assisted gang members after the murder.
Over the past three years, police teams carried out searches in Prayagraj, Kaushambi, Lucknow, Bareilly, Noida, and Meerut, before expanding the hunt to Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Telangana following intelligence inputs and possible sightings. Sources said multiple leads including suspected movement in Kaushambi, Delhi and Odisha, triggered extensive combing operations involving surveillance, drone searches and door-to-door verification drives. However, every lead eventually ran cold.
At one stage, investigators also explored the possibility of the trio fleeing abroad, with suspicions centred on a possible Dubai route, but subsequent checks reportedly ruled out any foreign escape. Lookout alerts and photographs were circulated at airports and transit hubs in several states.
“A major lead surfaced in December 2024, when Atiq’s nephew Zakir was arrested from Delhi’s Karol Bagh. During interrogation, he allegedly told police that Shaista had stayed in Delhi for a considerable period after the Umesh Pal murder, but investigators could not trace her trail beyond that point,” a senior STF official privy to the development emphasised.
The manhunt continues to cast a shadow over the probe even after the dramatic deaths of Atiq and Ashraf, who were shot dead by three assailants while being escorted by police for a medical examination at Prayagraj’s Colvin Hospital in April 2023.
Meanwhile, the state administration has continued action against the alleged Atiq network, with authorities identifying benami properties worth nearly ₹200 crore, including assets allegedly linked to Shaista. Several properties were demolished as part of the crackdown. Even after three years, the disappearance of the three women remains one of the most glaring unresolved chapters in Uttar Pradesh’s most closely watched organised crime investigation.
